Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease associated with hair follicles that can result in hair loss. Hair loss resulting from alopecia areata can occur anywhere on the body and can be patchy hair loss or total hair loss. Other similar conditions that can result in hair loss include, for example, pattern baldness, hypotrichosis, and other types of alopecia including, for example, alopecia androgenetica, alopecia areata diffusa, alopecia areata ophiasis, alopecia barbae, alopecia cicatricial, alopecia marginalis, alopecia mucinosa, alopecia partialis, alopecia totalis, alopecia universalis, congenial alopecia, reticular alopecia areata, sisaipho alopecia areata, syphilitic alopecia, and traction alopecia.
Dermatologists typically treat alopecia and related balding conditions with chemical agents such as cortical steroids and squaric acid dibutyl ester (SADBE). SADBE causes an immune system response known as contact dermatitis, which sensitizes the immune system, thereby assisting the immune system in decreasing underlying inflammation responsible for the hair loss. Cortical steroids suppress all immune system response. However, this type of treatment is only successful for a percentage of the population because different people have different sensitivity thresholds and, in fact, many people have no reaction to the SADBE agents at all rendering it completely ineffective in those cases. Cortical steroids likewise only work in a percentage of the population. Exactly how this or other contact sensitizers work is not really known. It is thought that it could be antigen competition, that they divert the attention of the inflammatory cells to them, thus moving them away from the hair follicles and allowing the affected area to re-grow.
Other means of treating hair loss have been disclosed. Some of these are disclosed in United States patents or applications. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/471,827 discloses a composition that includes dihydrotestosterone blocker and a thyroid source. Alternatively, the composition may include an estrogen source and a thyroid source relates to uses of T3 (triiodothyronine) but does not disclose an immune sensitizer or any contact dermatitis agent. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/077,289 describes compositions which allegedly stimulate stem cells and/or bulge cells to create new hair follicular cells, to enhance blood flow to hair follicles resulting in the activation and transition of stem cells to active cells yielding terminal hair growth. The active molecule reported in this invention are naturally occurring phytosterol, particularly, 13-sitosterol. In general, for topical administration, formulated in combination with one or more excipients. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/584,766 relates to the use of IL-15 polynucleotides, polypeptides or compounds which bind to an antibody which specifically recognizes the IL-15 polypeptide or which specifically bind to an IL-15 receptor alpha chain for the preparation of a composition described as stimulating hair growth or for treating, preventing and/or ameliorating hair loss. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/089,146 purports to provides methods and compositions for treating hair loss, including arresting and/or reversing hair loss and/or promoting hair growth, in mammals, such as humans, companion animals and livestock, using certain thyromimetic compounds. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/996,899 discloses a composition comprising cardiac glycoside which may be the only active ingredient present in the composition. The cardiac glycoside may be adjunctively administered with at least one active ingredient, i.e. the composition may further comprise adjuvant compounds which exhibit efficacy in treating hair loss disorders and may comprise at least one component selected from the group consisting of a steroid, an indole-based compound, an anti-fungal agent, an anti-inflammatory agent and a cooling or antipruritic agent.